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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Hekmat Karzai

Aired September 15, 2002 - 11:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The monumental struggle for a new and better Afghanistan is under way. A transitional government is now at the helm, but the country continues to face overwhelming challenges. To help us understand those complex issues, we're joined from New York by first secretary of the embassy of Afghanistan, Hekmat Karzai. He is also Afghan President Hamid Karzai's cousin. Good to see you, Mr. Secretary.
HEKMAT KARZAI, FIRST SECRETARY, EMBASSY OF AFGHANISTAN: Thank you. Nice to be here.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for joining us. Well, in your most recent conversations with your cousin, President Karzai, how is he doing, especially immediately after that attempted assassination?

KARZAI: Well, he's doing quite well. It wasn't the first time that there were attempts made on his life, you know. There were attempts made in the past, and nothing will take him away or change his determination on the bigger picture. He is determined to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, and there are some elements who do not want this. So those are the hurdles and the elements that we have to overcome.

WHITFIELD: This most recent attempt seemed to have come closest to threatening his life and ending his vision for a new, rebuilt Afghanistan. Does that most recent attempt on his life give him greater resolve to try to rebuild the country, to try to restore it, return it to its people?

KARZAI: Very much so, because...

WHITFIELD: In what way?

KARZAI: Yes, since the start of President Karzai's administration, there has been so much success. We have three million children, boys and girl, going to school. We had the most democratic process of loya jirga, which 1,500 Afghans from all walks of Afghanistan came and participated in. There was a major woman participation in there as well. So there are a lot of success in his administration.

Also, we have had 1.6 million refugees coming to Afghanistan. So that is accounted for something, and there are the exact elements of al Qaeda and Taliban who do not want these successes, these achievements to be known. WHITFIELD: And knowing that there was still going to be a front where there would be those who wouldn't allow or wouldn't want President Karzai to succeed, would not want to see a new Afghanistan, perhaps was that ever a consideration with him, knowing that his life might be threatened, perhaps I don't want this job, perhaps I don't want to take on this task? Did you ever hear him articulate those thoughts?

KARZAI: Never, never, never. President Karzai is very determined in trying to bring peace and stability, and he has been doing that for over three decades now. He has been in Pakistan and Afghanistan for a long time. And our cause is to bring stability to Afghanistan, our cause is to bring reconstruction, to give Afghans jobs, to give Afghans education, to give them health care. And that is the major point here.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever worry about him? Did you ever try to talk him out of it, knowing that you're not just his cousin but you all have forged a very close friendship? Did you ever try to talk out -- talk your cousin out of the idea of becoming president?

KARZAI: Not at all. Not at all. We're all behind him. We're all in support of him. He has done -- he has brought a tremendous leadership to Afghanistan, and we're in desperate need of him.

WHITFIELD: Most recently during the 9/11 anniversary, President Karzai was at Ground Zero during the observances. What did he express to you that occasion was like for him?

KARZAI: Well, there was a feeling of sympathy. There was a feeling of sorrow. There was a feeling of pain. September 11 was a dark mark on the face of humanity. It did not only damage the United States, but it damaged everyone around the country. These people who are these renegades, these fundamentalists, were responsible for this. They're not only -- they're not part of the Arab community, and they're not part of the Islamic community. You know, they are renegades that are trying to implement certain radical ideas, and we have to stand against it. They have destroyed a lot of things in Afghanistan, and it only furthers our commitments to terrorism, that we will demolish it and we will fight it to the end.

WHITFIELD: When President Karzai assesses the accomplishments thus far in Afghanistan, does he believe that perhaps the country has reached a quarter or even a halfway point to his goal?

KARZAI: Well, we can't really measure them. There are still problems in Afghanistan. For example, we still need more security, in terms of extension of ISAP. On a continuous basis, we have asked that the ISAP be extended to the major provinces, and hopefully we will achieve that, but there are more accomplishments. However, we still have to look at the hurdles.

WHITFIELD: Hekmat Karzai, thank you very much for joining us.

KARZAI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Cousin of President Karzai, and our best wishes to him.

KARZAI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

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